Like eating and being-present, sleeping is one of the intimate, everyday verbs that Korean refuses to honorify with a plain -(으)시-. You do not tell an elder ×자세요 ("sleep!"); the language supplies a dedicated honorific root, 주무시다. Most learners already know it without realizing, because it lives inside the nightly good-night to grandparents, hosts, and anyone senior: 안녕히 주무세요. This page unpacks that word and the one structural surprise it holds — its -시- is already inside it.
자다 → 주무시다
The plain verb is 자다 ("to sleep"). Its honorific is not built from the same root; it is the separate word 주무시다. There is no standard ×자시다 for "sleep" — the honorific slot is filled by 주무시- outright.
할머니께서 주무세요.
halmeonikkeseo jumuseyo
Grandmother is sleeping.
아버지께서는 벌써 주무십니다.
abeojikkeseoneun beolsseo jumusimnida
Father is already asleep. (formal)
어머니께서 낮잠을 주무세요.
eomeonikkeseo natjameul jumuseyo
Mother is taking a nap.
The -시- is already built in
Here is the surprise. In 가시다 or 있으시다, you can see the -시- being added to a bare stem (가- + -시-). But 주무시다's honorific stem is 주무시- as a fixed unit — the -시- is baked in, not a separable piece. That single fact predicts every form:
| Function | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| polite (해요체) | 주무세요 | jumuseyo |
| formal (합니다체) | 주무십니다 | jumusimnida |
| past | 주무셨어요 | jumusyeosseoyo |
| question | 주무세요? / 주무셨어요? | jumuseyo / jumusyeosseoyo |
Because 주무시- already carries the honorific, the polite ending is just -어요 landing on it → 주무시어요 → 주무세요. You do not add a second -시- to get ×주무시세요; that stacks the honorific twice. (For how the -(으)세요 ending forms in general, see -(으)세요.)
잘 주무셨어요?
jal jumusyeosseoyo
Did you sleep well?
할아버지 아직 주무세요?
harabeoji ajik jumuseyo
Is Grandpa still asleep?
안녕히 주무세요 and the three farewells
The everyday home for 주무시다 is the good-night. 안녕히 주무세요 literally means "sleep peacefully," and you say it to elders, hosts, and anyone senior before bed. It completes a neat trio of fixed farewells built on 안녕히 ("peacefully") — see 안녕히 가세요 vs 계세요:
| Farewell | Said to… | Literally |
|---|---|---|
| 안녕히 계세요 | the one staying | stay (be present) peacefully |
| 안녕히 가세요 | the one leaving | go peacefully |
| 안녕히 주무세요 | the one going to bed | sleep peacefully |
할머니, 안녕히 주무세요.
halmeoni, annyeonghi jumuseyo
Good night, Grandma.
푹 주무세요. 내일 봬요.
puk jumuseyo. nae-il bwaeyo
Sleep well. See you tomorrow.
Among close friends and children you'd drop all of this and just say 잘 자 ("sleep well," plain 자다) — which is exactly why 주무세요 to an elder matters: the plain 자다 that is warm between equals reads as blunt going up the age ladder.
Every sleeping context, not just the good-night
주무시다 is not limited to the bedtime formula. It covers every sense of 자다 — napping, dozing off, sleeping soundly, sleeping in — for a respected person. So it appears wherever you'd otherwise say 자다 about an elder or superior.
아버지께서 소파에서 주무시나 봐요.
abeojikkeseo sopaeseo jumusina bwayo
Father seems to have fallen asleep on the sofa.
할아버지께서 늦잠 주무시니까 조용히 해요.
harabeojikkeseo neutjam jumusinikka joyonghi haeyo
Grandpa's sleeping in, so let's keep it down.
There is one useful asymmetry worth flagging. Verbs like 드리다 (give) and 뵙다 (see) have a humble counterpart because you can do those actions toward a superior. Sleeping is not something you do to anyone, so 자다 has only an honorific (주무시다) and no humble form — you never lower your own sleeping. When you talk about your own sleep, you just use plain 자다.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Saying plain 자세요 to an elder. 자세요 is 자다 + -시-, which the language avoids for "sleep"; use the suppletive 주무세요.
❌ 할아버지, 안녕히 자세요.
Blunt — 자다 isn't honorified with -시-.
✅ 할아버지, 안녕히 주무세요.
harabeoji, annyeonghi jumuseyo
Good night, Grandpa.
Mistake 2: Double-stacking the honorific. 주무시- already contains -시-.
❌ 아버지, 안녕히 주무시세요.
Wrong — two -시- infixes; 주무시- already has one.
✅ 아버지, 안녕히 주무세요.
abeoji, annyeonghi jumuseyo
Good night, Father.
Mistake 3: Plain past 잤어요 to an elder. Asking a senior how they slept takes the honorific past.
❌ 어제 잘 잤어요, 할머니?
Too flat — plain 자다 up the age ladder.
✅ 어제 잘 주무셨어요, 할머니?
eoje jal jumusyeosseoyo, halmeoni
Did you sleep well last night, Grandma?
Mistake 4: Honoring your OWN sleep. 주무시다 elevates others; speak of yourself with plain 자다.
❌ 저는 열 시에 주무세요.
Wrong — you don't honor your own sleeping.
✅ 저는 열 시에 자요.
jeoneun yeol sie jayo
I go to sleep at ten.
Key Takeaways
- 자다's honorific is the suppletive 주무시다; there is no ×자시다.
- The -시- is built into 주무시-, so the polite form is 주무세요 — never the doubled ×주무시세요.
- 안녕히 주무세요 = "good night," the third of the 안녕히 farewells (계세요 to the stayer, 가세요 to the leaver).
- Plain 자다 is warm between equals but blunt going up the age ladder — use 주무시다 for elders.
- Never honor your own sleep; that stays plain 자다.
Now practice Korean
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- 드시다 / 잡수시다: To Eat & Drink (Honorific)TOPIK 1 — Korean does not honor 먹다 by adding -시- (×먹으세요 is avoided as blunt) — it swaps in the suppletive verb 드시다, which covers BOTH eating and drinking (많이 드세요, 물 드세요), with 잡수시다 as the higher register for elders.
- 계시다: To Be Present (Honorific) — and the 있으시다 SplitTOPIK 2 — 계시다 is the suppletive honorific of 있다 for a person's PRESENCE (선생님이 교실에 계세요, 안녕히 계세요), but 있으시다 is what you use when what 'exists' is a superior's time, question, or child — the split English 'have/be' hides.
- -(으)세요: When -(으)시- Meets 어요TOPIK 1 — -(으)세요 is the everyday 해요체 face of the subject honorific — -(으)시- fused with -어요. It does double duty: a soft 'please…' request (여기 앉으세요) and an honorific statement or question about the subject (어디 가세요?). It is not a dedicated imperative like English 'please'; it is the honorific present that context reads as a request.
- 돌아가시다 (Pass Away) & 말씀하시다 (Speak, Honorific)TOPIK 2 — Two more suppletive honorifics: 돌아가시다 ('return') is the respectful-and-euphemistic replacement for 죽다 (die), and 말씀하시다 elevates 말하다 (speak) — built on the two-faced noun 말씀, which raises a superior's words but humbles your own.